Kosovo: impatience grows

Radical independence movement sees Ahtisaari as great power puppet

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By Heli Suominen in Pristina
     
      A department store mannequin in a pinstripe suit stands on a street in Pristina, and has somehow managed to get a cardboard head of Martti Ahtisaari.
      With its plastic finger, the mannequin points at a transparent box one metre high containing maps and posters of Kosovo monasteries, as well as cartoons mocking the United Nations. A steady flow of people come to look.
      The strange installation is the creation of the Vetvendosja movement, which wants independence for Kosovo.
      "We want to present our protest to the fact that Ahtisaari's negotiations are being held in secret, and that our government do not want to talk about them openly", says Glauk Konjufca, who is responsible for information and the campaigns of the movement.
     
Kosovo is living at the edge of a time of decision. UN special envoy Ahtisaari presents his proposal on the status of the province to diplomats on Friday.
      The Albanian minority wants the status of an independent country for the province, while Serbia will agree to autonomy at most. Ahtisaari has negotiated with the parties to the dispute, and is expected to propose something in the middle-ground between these alternatives.
      In Pristina, in the midst of mosques dating back to the Ottoman Empire, and communist-style concrete towers, people are already powerfully dissatisfied.
      "If Kosovo still does not get its independence, I am ready for war, if necessary. We have been deceived for so long", swears Fadil Hasani, an unemployed factory worker at the Ahtisaari installation.
      Others who look at the mannequin hope that no matter what the proposal is, that violence could be averted.
      "Perhaps there will be some rioting, but not very bad rioting. Much depends on the politicians - on how openly and how well they take care of the matter", says Mimosa Simnica, a student of graphic design.
     
From 1999 Kosovo has been under the control of the United Nations, for all practical purposes, and has been a part of Serbia only on paper. Most recently, extensive violence between Kosovo's Serbs and Albanians broke out in the spring of 2004. At that time, 19 people were killed and hundreds were injured.
      Reinforced autonomy is not enough for the Albanians. After the war, and the oppression of Slobodan Milosevic that preceded it, they do not trust the Serb state.
     
The Vetvendosja movement has opposed all negotiations over the status of Kosovo. "They are aimed at a compromise. Our goal is independence", Konjufca declares.
      In November the movement organised a demonstration in which stones and paint bottles were thrown at the UN headquarters in Pristina.
      In February the movement plans to organise demonstrations opposing Ahtisaari's proposal.
      The tactics might continue to include the throwing of stones at buildings. According to Vetvendosja, this is not an expression of hostility toward Serbs in the area. The Kosovars are angered at the overbearing attitude of the UN, the failure of their own politicians to achieve results, and their secretive ways.
      "We plan to prevent employees of the UN and the government from going to their jobs. But we do not plan to be violent toward people", Konjufca says.
      The dissatisfaction in Kosovo focuses largely on Martti Ahtisaari himself. "I do not oppose Ahtisaari as a person - he has undoubtedly been given strict instructions from the great powers, and is their puppet. But I feel that he is engaged in a shameful mission", Konjufca says.
      The student Simnica takes a more moderate tone. "Ahtisaari certainly knows his work, but the package is unfair for us."
     
The longer the publication of the proposal takes, the more difficult it will be to deal with the tensions in Kosovo. Serbia would like Ahtisaari to wait for a while, so that the ongoing government formation talks in Belgrade might be completed.
      Vetvendosja is the most radical movement in Kosovo, but Prime Minister Agim Ceku has also warned that Kosovo might unilaterally declare independence if no proposal is forthcoming.
      Many feel that independence for Kosovo would guarantee economic growth. Kosovo was the poorest part of the former Yugoslavia. In recent years, its uncertain status and the threat of unrest have kept international investors away.
      The people of Kosovo hope that with independence, jobs might also increase. Now unemployment is reaching as high as 70 per cent, according to some assessments.
      Unemployment is apparent on the streets of Pristina. Masses of young men hang around the streets, with no apparent hurries or goals.
     
In the suburb of Bardhosha, workers at the car repair shop of Xhabir Bllaca have plenty to do, but Bllaca himself also considers independence an absolute necessity.
      "This is the best Citroen repair shop in Kosovo. I would start to import new Citroens, but the French will not agree to it before the status of the province of Kosovo is cleared up.
      Bllaca fled Pristina in March 1999 with his family when Serb forces started to push Albanians from their homes.
      "We had nothing with us except a little bit of money and jewellery: no clothes, no food", says his brother Remzi Bllaca, who also works at the repair shop.
      Many Albanians are forever bitter toward the Serbs. Bllaca says, nevertheless, that he does not hate the Serbs.
      We are all people, but I do not trust the Serb state at all, or the politicians of Belgrade."
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 25.1.2007

More on this subject:
 FACTFILE: What did Ahtisaari negotiate about?

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Ahtisaari focus of anger in Kosovo; full independence demanded (25.1.2007)

HELI SUOMINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
heli.suominen@hs.fi